How To Take Photos And Videos With The Exterio Mobile App

Photos and videos taken in the Exterio mobile app save directly to the project — no uploading, no sorting through a camera roll later. This is how the field documents a job and keeps the office aligned on what's actually happening on site.

When would I use this?

Documenting conditions before work starts
Capturing an unexpected issue the office needs to see
Recording a video walkthrough of the job site
Building photo documentation for a supplement or a warranty record

How do I start capturing photos or videos?

Tap the camera button at the bottom of the screen.
Exterio uses your location to suggest nearby projects you're likely documenting.
Select the project you're on.
Choose Photo or Video capture.

How do I take photos in the Exterio app?

Select Photo capture. Your camera opens.
Take your photos.
When you're finished with the session, tap Done in the top right.

Photos save automatically to the project.

Everything you shoot stays in the batch until you choose to delete it, so you can keep shooting and review at the end.

How do I edit a photo in the app?

Tap the photo. The editing dialog opens.
Mark it up — add shapes, highlight areas, add text.
Add a note if you want to explain what the photo shows.

Your edits save to the photo.

How do I take a video?

Same process. Select Video, and you'll get the video capture dialog.

After recording, choose to retake or use the video. It saves to the project's Photos tab alongside your photos.

How do I start a capture from the Photos tab?

Tap the plus button in the bottom left of the screen any time you're on a project's Photos tab.

This gives you additional options — including uploading photos or videos from your camera roll if you shot them outside the app.

Where do photos and videos go?

Straight to the Photos tab of the project you're documenting. Anyone on your team with access to that project can see them.

What happens if I lose signal on a job site?

Photos you take will queue and batch upload once signal returns. You can keep shooting.

However, the app needs signal to load in the first place. If you arrive at a site with no service, open the app before you're out of range. Once it's loaded, you can capture without a connection.

Tips and gotchas

Shoot in the app, not in your phone's camera. This is the whole point. A photo taken in your camera app sits in your camera roll, where the office can't see it, the supplement can't use it, and it disappears when that phone does. A photo taken in Exterio is on the job the moment you tap Done.
Load the app before you lose service. Rural jobs, metal buildings, dead zones — if the app can't load, you can't start capturing. Open it in the driveway while you still have bars.
Confirm the suggested project is the right one. Location suggests nearby projects, which is fast and usually right. On a street where you're working two houses, or on a repeat address, check before you start shooting. Photos on the wrong job are hard to untangle later.
Tap Done before you leave the site. Photos stay in the batch until you finish the session. Don't walk away with a batch that hasn't been saved.
Add a note while you're standing there. You know what you're looking at right now. The person reviewing it in the office next week doesn't, and neither will you in three months.
Mark up the ones that matter, on site. Circling a damaged component while you're in front of it takes seconds. Doing it later means figuring out what you were photographing.
Shoot before-photos, always. Documentation of pre-existing conditions is what protects you when a homeowner points at damage that was there when you arrived. This is the cheapest insurance in the business.
Video is for context, photos are for evidence. A video walkthrough is great for showing the office the overall situation. For a supplement or a claim, a marked-up still photo of the specific issue does more work.